Improvement in ticket-boxes



N10. BUR'SONXLJOHN'W'ROBERTSON.

Improvement in Ticket-Boxes. N0. 114,757, Patented M z 1y16,187 1.

UNITED STATES FATENT @FFICE.

NATHAN C. BURSON AND JOHN W. ROBERTSON, OF ONARGA, ILLINOIS.

vIMPROVEMENT lN TICKET-BOXES Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. R 54,757. dated May 16, 1871.

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that we, NATHAN O. BURSON and JOHN W. ROBERTSON, of Onarga, in Iroquois county and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Ticket-AgentsTicket-Box; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the top of the box, and Fig. 2 a perspective view of the same.

Our invention consists in a ticket-box and tickets for the purpose of preventing frauds by ticket agents and conductors on railroadtrains, &c., the construction and operation of which we will proceed to explain.

a is a box constructed in halves hinged to gether, as shown, each half being constructed precisely alike, and furnished with drawers 1) and d, which are divided into small compart ments for the reception of numeral-tickets, one drawer holding those representing Dollars and the other Gents, as shown in Fig. 1. Immediately above the drawers the halves of the box a are divided intolongcompartments by means of the partitions t for the reception of tickets, those in one half denoting the place of departure and the other the terminus of the journey of the passenger. These tickets are punched at one end,.and slipped on over the rows of pegs c, after which the frames 0 are let down, so they rest on the top of the pegs e and are locked for security, so that a ticket cannot be removed without being torn off the peg.

The mode of operation is as follows: When used on arailway, all ticket agents on the line are dispensed with, and instead thereof a ticket agent goes with each train back'and forth with this ticket-box and tickets, which is issued from the general office at headquarters, where a record is kept of the number of tickets, &c. The passenger enters the car and takes his seat without a ticket. agent, as soon as the car starts, comes through the car with the ticket-box hung by a strap about his neck. If the passenger is going from Neoga to Troy, (see Fig. 1,) the agent pulls out a ticket marked From Neoga, and also one from the other side marked To Troy, the backs of which he sticks together by means of the mucilage The ticket thereon. He then sticks on where it says Fare the tickets denoting Dollars and Cents from the drawers b and d, and then hands the ticket thus arranged to the passenger and passes on to the next, the numeraltickets denoting the fare from one point to another. The conductor follows, and takes up the tickets and collects the fare denoted thereon. It will thus be observed that the conductor cannot collect fare and not account for it without being exposed, for he must account for the tickets issued by the agent. Neither can the agent collect fare without issuing a ticket, for the conductor would find it out when he came around to take up tickets and collect the fare; and should the agent and the conductor combine to cheat, the passenger would discover the trick, for he would wonder why he was not furnished with a ticket, like the rest, and if a whole coachful of passengers paid'fare without tickets the fraud would be so apparent as to expose itself. The box with the unissued tickets is returned at the end of the round trip to the general ticket office, and the conductor should return the remainder of the tickets issued,with the fare denoted thereon, or be held accountable for any deficit. up checks for baggage, and issues a ticket of a corresponding number to the passenger,.

which tickets are shown at as, Fig. 1. This is another safeguard, for without such a ticket the passenger would show he had not paid his fare and could not get his baggage at the terminus of his journey.

This ticket-box may be used as well on steamboats or other public conveyances as railroads, but is perhaps better adapted to railroads than any other mode of travel, and is an effectual preventive of fraud when operated in the-manner described.

Having thus described our invention, What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

. The ticket-box a described, consisting of the drawers 1) and d, partitions Z, pegs e, and frames 0, arranged, operating, and constructed as and for the purposes set forth.

NATHAN G. BURSON. JOHN WV. ROBERTSON.

Witnesses:

Tnos. H. HUTOHINS, H. Lown.

The ticket agent also takes 

